EAI Value Maps

Sending and receiving data, you can create inbound and outbound maps for the same data

Receiving data only, you need only to define an inbound map

Sending data only, you need only to define an outbound map

Consider an example of how EAI Value Maps provide correlations between Siebel applications and the SAP R/3 system. SAP country codes, which are represented as two-character codes, are different from Siebel country codes, represented by the country name spelled out. An EAI Value Map provides a lookup table that lists these two sets of data side by side.

The EAI Value Map entries are stored in the EAI Value Map table. You can view and administer this table from the EAI Value Maps view in the Administration-Integration screens in the Siebel client. The Siebel client groups the entries logically based on the Type and Direction columns.

Figure 11 shows the entries form two logical groupings, with entries for the Siebel inbound and Siebel outbound entries.

Figure 11. EAI Value Maps for Country Codes

The Direction field determines the direction of the mapping and is either Siebel Outbound or Siebel Inbound. In a Siebel Outbound mapping, the Siebel Value field is the lookup key; the External System Value is the translation. In a Siebel Inbound mapping, the External System Value field is the lookup key; the Siebel Value is the translation.

You can add, remove, or modify entries in the Type group on the EAI Lookup Map view in the Siebel client. The EAI_LOOKUP_MAP_TYPE list of values defines type values. You can modify the list from the Application Administration views in the Siebel client.

NOTE: You cannot change the values of the Direction field, which must be Siebel Outbound or Siebel Inbound.

The data transformation methods include an interface to EAI Value Maps for translating the codes of one database to another. You use the EAIGetValueMap function to obtain an interface to the mappings of specific Type-Direction pairs. You use the interface object's Translate method to find specific keys in the Type-Direction map and retrieve the translated values.